Chapter 85: Black Square_1

Shi Qiang was stopped at the boarding gate because his clearance wasn't high enough; only Jiang Yu boarded the plane.

The military jet headed west, and Jiang Yu reckoned they were nearly at Xi'an when he couldn't help asking Chief Ji, who sat beside him with an impassive expression, "Chief? Are we going to a meeting?"

Chief Ji replied with a smile, "Not going to a meeting, then what, going to have a meal?"

Jiang Yu chuckled, "Then what kind of meeting are we going to?"

"You'll know when we get there," Chief Ji said, taking out a recording pen, "I'm going to record our conversation from now on."

Jiang Yu and Chang Weisi didn't mind. Since three months ago, meetings and certain conversations at the Star Defense Department started to be recorded on video or audio.

Chief Ji turned on the recording pen, changing the subject, "In the future, the space elevator is very likely to 'tri-polarize' the world. What's your opinion on this?"

The sites for three space elevators had already been determined: one in China, one in Europe.

Another one was to be built by America, who always knew how to play big, actually planning to construct this space elevator on the Pacific Ocean, in pursuit of a mobile spaceport.

Jiang Yu sighed, "Three is too many!"

"Too many?" Chang Weisi laughed, "Some still think it's too few!"

Jiang Yu said, "To be realistic, a project like the space elevator massively exceeds our current engineering capabilities. By the time the elevator is completed, the standard of living will have regressed to that of the last century."

If he remembered correctly, once the space elevator was completed, the country would return to the era of food coupons.

Jiang Yu continued, "I've been wanting to reflect this to the leadership for a while now. Although everyone isn't in such a panic anymore, every project and plan is too eager and blind, always hoping to bite off more than they can chew."

"Haste doesn't bring success. The lack of a rational general plan and policy for development will lead to a tremendous waste of resources."

"I remember an interesting story from history: Napoleon once had a crown made for himself out of aluminum."

"At that time, aluminum was exclusive to European royalty and nobility."

"But as soon as the electrolytic method was invented, the value of aluminum plummeted a thousandfold."

"Everything has a gradual process. Some challenges we now face in some industries could easily be solved by finding parallel solutions in other fields."

"Despite the urgency, unnecessary waste of resources should be avoided as much as possible."

Chief Ji pondered for a moment before nodding, "The more critical the times, the more prone to chaos. I will relay your suggestion upward."

Jiang Yu returned to the main topic, "As for 'tri-polarization,' it's inevitable. The three space elevators will even lead to 'Space Geopolitics,' causing future space forces to evolve into three distinct camps."

For instance, the Asian Fleet, the European Fleet, and the North American Fleet.

Chang Weisi added, "My view is similar to Jiang Yu's. From the beginning of constructing the space elevator, we should try to unite the powers around us as much as possible."

"We could even use the space elevator to 'kidnap' some wavering countries to our side."

Chief Ji nodded, "Your views are very much in line with the current international environment. The more critical the times, the more we need to maintain a posture that's neither hostile nor compromising."

Jiang Yu joked, "Foreigners get so flustered when they hear this approach." Mimicking Colonel Stanton, he said in a puzzled tone, "Why, if not compromising, can it still not be hostile?"

Chief Ji and Chang Weisi burst into hearty laughter.

During the conversation, the military plane continued westward, eventually landing at an air force base in the desert in the early afternoon.

Jiang Yu and the others continued their journey in an armed helicopter for over an hour, and Jiang Yu saw a vast expanse of army-green tents in the desert.

This ocean of green stretched beyond sight; there must have been tens of thousands of people stationed here.

Jiang Yu even wondered if a military operation was imminent.

But, considering the Trisolarans had pulled away most of humanity's internal hatred towards each other, although there would be under-the-table scheming, it was unlikely there would be any overt conflict.

Chief Ji suddenly said in the headset, "Look over there."

Jiang Yu and Chang Weisi followed his pointing finger and saw a huge open-air construction site, where trucks the size of matchboxes were transporting sand one load at a time into the distance.

A gigantic pit had been dug on the site, and at the bottom of the construction site lay a massive black rectangular object.

The black wasn't deep black, but rather a soft black that was very comforting to look at.

Moreover, the rectangle was not only large but also precisely shaped, presenting a "standardized" beauty against the chaotic construction site, like a rectangular plaster object amidst a pile of miscellaneous items.

Jiang Yu couldn't take his eyes off it, greedily staring at this piece of art.

After his brain blanked for several seconds, he finally thought, what is this? Where did it come from?

Chief Ji said, "Its codename is the 'Black Square,' and it is the purpose of our trip!"

Jiang Yu's mind was in turmoil, even the noisy helicopter engine noise was ignored.

Without a word, he followed Chief Ji off the plane and then took a military vehicle to the construction site.

Seeing the "Black Square" up close was even more astonishing, lying about a dozen meters underground, approximately two to three kilometers long, twice as long as it was wide.

Chief Ji exclaimed, "Impressive, isn't it? It's 2.666 kilometers long and 1.333 kilometers wide, not a millimeter off."

"What material?" Jiang Yu finally snapped out of his initial shock, "What material is it made of?"

"Don't know," Chief Ji laughed at himself and then repeated, "Don't know!"

Chang Weisi also came to his senses and asked, "Who made this? What is it for?"

Chief Ji repeated again, "Don't know!"

The carriage fell into an indescribable silence as the driver drove the vehicle following a 'four in front, eight behind' truck, arriving above the "Black Square."

The Black Square was extremely flat, and being on it felt like standing on a light black island.

The surrounding yellow sand looked like yellow ferocious waves, seemingly trying everything to bury the "Black Square," but it remained an outlier that the sand could never assimilate.

Before, Jiang Yu had always thought that distances of one or two kilometers weren't that far, but standing on the "Black Square" made him truly feel the magnitude of a kilometer.

Compared to the "Black Square," Jiang Yu felt himself, the military vehicle, and the trucks were all too minute.

He asked, "What exactly is this thing?"

Chief Ji still answered, "Don't know, it was just discovered by accident three months ago, its specific age is indeterminable."

Jiang Yu asked again, "Why hasn't the ETO exposed the 'Black Square'?"

If the "Black Square" were made public, the whole world might fall into chaos again.

Chief Ji replied with a smile, "We already have countermeasures in place. Even if they did expose it, nobody would believe it. I'll explain that to you later."

Jiang Yu didn't ask further but instead pointed at the Black Square, "How tall is it?"

"We're still digging," said Chief Ji. "However, based on some estimates, its height should be 1.333 kilometers."

Jiang Yu suddenly laughed, "I always feel like the 'Black Square' is like an eye, coldly watching us, coldly observing humanity, coldly gazing at the sky and the universe."

Chief Ji said, "That's also the strangest part. Many people feel like the 'Black Square' seems like a living entity, but so far, no signs of life have been detected in it."

...

Here, I need to explain that the numbers for the "Black Square's" height and width will echo a future design.

Didn't see that coming, did you? This wasn't just something the author threw in.（￣▽￣）